I am simply trying to use my DVI monitor with my laptop that only accepts VGA. I've been doing some research for an adapter from DVI female to VGA male and it seems that not only do I need an adapter, but I also need a converter, which costs around 100 dollars.
Is there another alternative? I have an LG monitor that uses DVI-D and currently has a DVI cable attached. Is it possible for me to find and use a cable that is DVI to VGA that would work with my laptop?
I have also read somewhere that sometimes the video card does the converting so people only need the adapters. I am currently using an NVIDIA Geforce GT 540M, so would just purchasing the adapter and not a converter be okay for my purpose?
Best Answer
Unfortunately, a converter is the only possibility if your monitor is DVI-D ONLY.
I'm going to simplify and summarize the information contained within this Wikipedia article in a way that you can understand.
There are two separate DVI specifications you need to be aware of: DVI-D and DVI-I.
If your monitor requires DVI-D and not DVI-I (i.e. if it does not have four round pins surrounding the long, flat blade-like pin) then it cannot be used with a passive VGA adapter to connect to a VGA video card. You must use an active connector which converts digital to analog.
However...
Your monitor, which you mentioned in your comment, says it supports D-Sub which is a separate output on the back of the monitor (look at it; you should see it on the back) which directly supports analog VGA. So just use a VGA to VGA cable. No conversion needed!